Impressions
by DeformedPleasure
Summary: Draco is about to face a harsh test. Meanwhile, Harry Potter learns of a new threat that could rip the magical world apart. What side will Draco choose in the upcoming war?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Hey Hey! This is just another little fic thing that my odd mind came up with. I don't have any idea why I came up with it, but here it is! Enjoy**

**Love**

**Sarafina**

          He watched the ring as it fell to the ground and landed with a dull thud on the fluffy, blood red Persian carpet that lined the living room and the foyer, winding and dragging itself up the marble stairs only to meet with black tile. He sighed as he got up and crossed the large living room, bent over to pick up the ring, and sat down in an antique medieval style chair. He looked at the ring. It was a gorgeous silver color, with an intricate, thin gold design of a snake winding its way around the band. A large ruby was set in the middle, deep and dark red, yet clear so you could see the serpent picture in the center of the priceless stone. It was a very small piece of jewelry, and very feminine. It was truly fit for a lady. He pocketed the ring, knowing his mother would want it back after she had gotten over her anger. 

          He heard his parents coming down the stairs, yelling hateful words at each other, slinging empty threats back and forth, each one trying to make the other back down. He examined them both as they stopped yelling and were merely looking at each other with looks of utmost repugnance. His mother was obviously backing down from the fight, as her beautiful features were slowly turning into a look of pity and defeat. She bit her top lip, but very slightly, it was something you wouldn't notice unless you were really observing her. She lifted her chin and drew back her shoulders in an act of defiance and walked gracefully down the stairs, her long white dress and deep green cloak billowing out behind her. She walked into the kitchen and slammed the door with such force, a small blue and white china plate that had held its home on a mantle near the kitchen door for 5 years, toppled over and broke into pieces. Draco Malfoy could hear his father give a small laugh and turned in time to see him smirk. Lucius Malfoy leaned on his long black cane, obviously pleased with himself. Giving a small nod to his son, he turned and walked back up the stairs to his study at the beginning of the hall. 

          Draco got up from his chair and walked into the kitchen where a few house elves were working feverishly, trying to prepare lunch for the Malfoy's and the guests that would be coming later this afternoon. Draco looked around, surveying the kitchen, slowly taking in all the details. It was an old kitchen, only one window provided a small curtain of light, leaving the rest of the place slightly dark and casting eerie shadows along the walls, making grotesque forms out of anything. It was under this window Narcissa Malfoy sat, the light dancing off her blonde hair and making him squint as it bounced off her white dress. This was her favorite place to sit and sew, as she was doing now. She loved to talk to the elves and they loved it when she came to sit among them and tell them stories about her life before the manor, when she was a top student Hogwarts, and about how she often got caught sneaking off with Lucius at night, taking walks and such. Narcissa raised her head from her sewing and took notice of her son, smiling and beckoning him over with one of her long slender fingers, the nails painted an acid green and sharpened to a dangerous tip. 

          "I thought I'd bring this back, knew you didn't want to lose it." Draco said as he reached into his pocket and handed his mother her wedding ring. She looked extremely pleased as she picked it up and slid it on her finger. 

          "Well, thank you very much and I hope our yelling didn't bother you. Don't worry; we were just having a little quarrel over your school. Lucius still wants to send you to a school far away, but I simply won't let him take away my boy." She said lovingly as Draco felt himself blush. After a few more moments of chatting with his mother, he got up and turned to leave, but found that Narcissa was holding onto his shirt with her strong fingers. 

          "I forgot to give this to you, Dragon. It's just your school letter; you'll need a few more books. I'll run down to Diagon Alley tomorrow and pick them up for you. Just leave the letter on the table in the foyer and I'll get it before I leave to go visit Mirande." She said as she handed him the familiar piece of parchment that he had gotten for the past 5 years. He smiled at her and walked out of the kitchen, examining his shirt where his mother's fingernails had been. Her nails were so sharp they had ripped three tiny holes in sweater. As the blonde boy was walking up the stairs, he saw one of the house elves approach him. 

          "Mister Malfoy, sir, you're father wants you to see him in his study, sir, he says it very, very important, sir." The elf said, trembling with excitement at having delivered her message fully and without interruption. Draco gave her a nod and walked all the way up the steps, took a turn left and found himself at the entrance to his father's study. The door to the study was a deep green, with black and gold snakes swirling in and out of branches and a large snake's head for the door handle. Lucius was very private and had hexed the door, so that if Lucius didn't want someone to come in, the snakehead handle would deliver them a nasty bite. Draco's hand slowly, and cautiously, went towards the handle, and, feeling an intense amount of relief when it didn't attack him, opened the door into the dark study.

          Draco had never been in Lucius's study before. It was home to a thick black carpet with deep green skulls bordering either side. A mahogany desk occupied the middle of the room, and before it was a large black chair, lined in green that had very obvious claw marks on the wooden armrests. The only source of light was a candle that sat on the desk, making the room look even more uninviting and scary. Draco stared at the walls, as they were lined with books of every size and language possible. Then heard a thumping sound, and traced it to Lucius, as he was thumping his fingers against the desk with his right hand, and lovingly petting his cane with his left. 

          "Sit down, Draco. Stop acting like a fool, just standing there and gaping. We have important things to discuss." Lucius said in his deep, eerie voice. Draco immediately sat down in the horrible chair and his eyes became fixated on the array of knives on display behind his father's head.

          "Pay attention! Now, as you know, you are entering your sixth year at Hogwarts. A lot of things can happen now that you are considered 'of age'. I hope you know what one of those things are, Draco." Draco searched his mind for answers, but found none and just stared at his father, waiting for him to continue.

          "Oh, you don't? Well, then let me enlighten you. As you have read in the _Daily Prophet_, they are saying the Dark Lord has been revived and is looking for his servants to come back to him. I have decided that you are old enough to finally attain glory and power." Lucius said while smiling sardonically.

          "I don't quite understand what you mean father."

          "Well, you never were that bright. I think you are just perfect to become a Death Eater. Let's see, it shall be done over the Christmas Holidays. That sounds good. You may leave now." Lucius waved his hand as though dismissing him and started to scribble something down in his leather bound book that he always carried with him. Draco practically raced out of the study and rushed down the stairs, all the time thinking, _'I need to find my mother, she'll stop this, I know she can. She can make father do anything! Damn, where is she?_' He entered the kitchen and yelled for her but she didn't answer him. She wasn't sitting on her stool, she wasn't chatting with the elves, and she wasn't peeling oranges or chopping lemons or baking a cake. She wasn't anywhere. Draco pulled aside a house elf and frantically asked where she was, and the elf said matter-of-factly,

          "The Mistress left early to go visit her lady friend, sir. She has taken your list and left, sir. She said she would be back in a week, sir."

          Draco felt as if a he had swallowed a rock and it now lay heavy in his stomach. _'But she can't so that to me! I have to leave for school in three days!!'_ At that moment, Draco knew there was nothing he could do but accept it, or at least try to think of better things. He had never hated the thought of Christmas so much.

**A/N – Okay, end chapter one. I hope you enjoyed, and I shall try to update as soon as possible. I dunno if I'm gonna add slash or not, only if people want it, I really haven't thought about any couples yet. But it's almost 3:00 in the morning, so I am leaving now. I hope to have an update soon!! Thanx for reading, **

**Love**

**Sarafina**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

          Harry Potter sat up on his incredibly uncomfortable bed and reached onto the table for his glasses. Upon putting them on, his small room started to come into focus. His eyes quickly targeted his owl's cage and he noticed, much to his dismay, that Hedwig had not yet come back from her journey to the Burrow where Ron and his family lived. His hopes dashed at having to stay another day with the Dursleys, Harry got up and dressed in his usual baggy, stained clothes. As he turned around to exit the room, a remarkably large object hit the back of his head. His hand instantly and instinctively reached for the wand on the table next to him and he turned around. He smiled to himself when he found that it was just Hedwig returning with the post. Harry was surprised to find that he had gotten two letters. Harry grabbed them from Hedwig, who gave him a quick bite on the finger for she obviously didn't expect to have to carry so much, then jumped on his bed to read them. The first one, as he had expected, was from Ron.

_'Harry,_

_How's your summer been? Mum said that you could come_

_And stay with us until school starts. I know it's only about three days, sorry we couldn't get you sooner, but we've kinda had this family emergency. We'll pick you up later this evening; 5:00 sound good? See you then, Ron.'_

          The third letter, much to Harry's surprise, was a small note and a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. Harry read the note:

_'Just thought you might like a heads up, boy.'_

          But that was all. There was no name with it; there was no anything except those few words. Instead of puzzling over the note, though, Harry immediately opened _The Daily Prophet_ and his eyes fell on the first article he saw. 

**_You-Know-Who is back and maybe stronger than ever!_**

****

_It's well known now that You-Know-Who has been planning to rise again. But after many attempts, and each being spoiled by young Harry Potter in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you'd think he would just give up. But, that does not seem to be the case as this reporter has heard many rumors about his return. Certain people who say they have had contact with other sources who may know something are now saying that You-Know-Who is recruiting a whole new generation of Death Eaters. A certain young wizard, who has asked that we not give out his name, has said that he had seen a young Witch with the Death Eater's symbol burned onto her skin. "It was right there, I saw it!" he says, "She was an evil looking woman and I knew, I just knew that she was working for him." Upon further questioning about how the woman looked, he stated, "I only noticed her nails, they were sharp, dreadfully sharp. Looked like she could slice skin with nails that long and pointy. Other than that, I can only tell you she was wearing a green cloak, but that's about it." If anyone sees another person who fits this description, then please contact the Ministry of Magic. This article written by: Mirande Degoniat._

          Harry sat, staring at the article. He had no idea why in the world someone would want to send him this. What did it matter? He didn't feel like thinking about things other than going to stay with Ron. He put the paper under his bed and walked down into the living room, counting the hours until 5:00.

----------

          Narcissa Malfoy knocked on the door of the Degoniat Mansion. The heavy old world style door slid open with a scratching sound and a tall, elderly woman emerged. The servant stepped back to allow Narcissa in and escorted her to a chair in the lounge. Narcissa eased herself onto the dark red easy chair, allowing the old maid to put a napkin in her lap and offer her tea and small cakes. The woman walked into the kitchen after seeing to the guest. Narcissa smiled to herself as she remembered how Mirande always liked to employ Muggles to do her work. Narcissa, while waiting for Mirande to come downstairs, looked around the grand 'Red Room' as it was most often called, and with good reason. The carpet was plush, deep red in color and Narcissa noticed that her feet sunk into it a good deal. The walls were an elaborate maroon color with gold trim bordering the top, giving the name of every Degoniat. The 4 large tapestries on the wall each depicted a different story. One told the story of King Arthur, whilst another told the tale that was the Lady of the Lake. The other two were a dull yellow color, obviously very old, and they told the tale of Ancient Egypt. In between two of the tapestries was a display case, and inside was a wand. Narcissa couldn't help herself as she got up and strolled over to it to look at it closer. It was pure, beautiful black with whit lines across the handle, making it seem marble. It had a small ruby in the exact center, circled with gold. There was a name on it, Pandora. 

          "Having fun, Narcissa?" came the deep yet feminine voice of Mirande. Narcissa turned to see her best friend in a gown of deep red and gold, her red hair left to fall down her shoulders, and her thick black glasses making her look a little geeky but lovable. 

          "Mirande, who's Pandora? Is she one of your relatives or something? She has a beautiful wand."

          "_Had_ one, you mean. Pandora, let's just say she's a friend of mine. I don't see her very often."

          "Why?"

          "Enough small talk, how about you explain exactly what you were doing?" Mirande said, throwing herself down into her chair, crossing her legs and acting as if it were a throne.

          "What do you mean, I was just looking at this wand."

          "Not that, I didn't know you got the, you know, the symbol…" She said quietly. Narcissa still stood there, incredibly puzzled. Mirande stood and went to a small oak table on the south wall and pulled out of a drawer a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. With a small sigh she handed it to Narcissa. The blonde woman sat down in her chair and took a few minutes to read the article. Her jaw dropped.

          "Oh, come now Mirande, you can't possibly think it was me!"

          Mirande grunted and crossed the room, gently grabbed Narcissa's wrist and push back the baggy sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. It had almost vanished; it was hardly recognizable. 

          "I rest my case, Narcissa. You fit the description perfectly. The nails, the cloak, the mark. I had no choice. I have already alerted the Ministry of Magic, and they will be coming to take you to a trial."

          Narcissa's mouth continued to open and close, she didn't know what to say. There was a loud knock on the door and Mirande swept out of the room, letting her dress flow behind her as if she were royalty. Narcissa saw three people enter the room, two Ministry of Magic Officials and one Auror. She couldn't help but burst out into tears and she started to beg them. She had to assure them that it wasn't her.

          "No! It wasn't me I swear! A lot of people look like me! I haven't been out of the Manor all week, so how could it have been me?!" She yelled frantically. The Auror walked to her and grabbed her gently by the shoulders and started to escort her out. He whispered something into her ear and it obviously calmed her down. She succumbed to small sobs and walked out the door with him. The two officials, looking grim, walked out as well, leaving Mirande in the doorway. Mirande closed the door and took off her red cloak and her glasses, revealing dark red eyes. She sat the heavy cloak on a nearby chair and scratched her arm where the Dark Mark was getting clearer and clearer.


End file.
